A Drafter's Trial
by Arthur Blackwood
Summary: Events happen 100 years after y presumed and vague ending to the Lightbringer Trilogy. Involves OCs, obviously, but maintains the basis of the setting set in the Black Prism. Currently has the first two chapters up.


A Drafter's Trial

Chapter 1: The Tyrean Bichrome

Of all the people that could walk through the atrium to the lifts, none stood out more so than Rose Danavis. A Tyrean Drafter was rare enough after the events of the Prisms War, a century before. A Tyrean bichrome was even more rare, considering the circumstances. To top it off, she was the most beautiful drafter in all the Jaspers, as voted at the Luxlord's Ball a year ago. The deep brown hair, hazel eyes barely touched by luxin, and perfect build set many lustful eyes in her direction.

None of that would matter to the Chromeria if she couldn't draft, and it was for that reason that the Lord Terrence Guile himself summoned her to the meeting of the spectrum. As a bichrome, Rose could draft two colours; orange and yellow. As an orange she was a master artist, and the best of her land. As a manipulator, well the myths go that she had coercered many into loaning her a danar without chance of returning it. She could also draft yellow, making her a contiguous bichrome. The yellow balanced her perfectly, so she was as much an artist as a poet and a strategist.

Reaching the lifts she was stopped by a pair of Blackguards, the personal security of the Prism. One of the Blackguards, she thought his name was Arthur, took a stride to cut her off.

"What is your business here Danavis" The presumed Arthur snarled.

"Well you see Arthur, The Prism himself summoned me, so I expect your just causing trouble again. Must I show you again why a Yellow-Orange Bichrome like myself can out duel a Green Monochrome like you?" The smirk Rose presented showed that she wouldn't hesitate. The White knew this too, and had probably arranged to have Arthur on duty for exactly this reason.

"Yea, yea, listen here high and mighty." Arthur started to draft luxin, evident through the green luxin building up in his hand.

"Why don't you listen Arthur? If I'm late it's your head on the platter, not mine. Also, why don't you stop drafting just to make threats. Your halo is halfway there, and you're not even twenty two yet. You might have to join the Freeing."

Arthur stood, a look of hate in his eyes as he released the luxin formed in his hand. He slowly moved to the side, smiling darkly as he did so.

"You won't always be so lucky Rose, and I assure you, I'll be the one to kill you"

Rose shuffled onto the lift, aware that time was growing short if she were still to make it on time, and as every important official in Chromeria knew, nobody is late for a meeting of the Spectrum in which they are summoned to.

"Such a shame you'll draft yourself to the Freeing before that day. Pip, pip Arthur." Rose hit the counter-weights to the lift and was soring at phasing rate, unable to hear Arthur's rebuttal as she flew up the Prism's tower.

There was a trick to the lifts in the Prism's Tower. They never went to the higher floors, due to the Blackguard rendering such easy access a security threat. Even more than that, one had to take the stairs to the more important floors, which unfortunetly for Rose included the Spectrum's Chamber.

The lift came to a sudden stop, shaking Rose. She almost fell over into the wall, but was instead caught by the arm of the blackguard on duty. Rose stood up fully, brushing aside the arm of her catcher and looking to see who the kind perosn was.

"Karin Whitewater, I haven't seen you in at leats a fortnight" Rose stepped forward to hug her friend and the current Commande of the Blackguards, Karin Whitewater.

"I know. Not since I had to discipline Arthur form attacking you, even though you had him frimly trounced by my arrival. Not bad for a Bichrome." Karin patted Rose on her back as they both started to walk towards the stairs that would lead to the Spectrum's Chamber.

"Be quiet you polychrome, we get to have mroe fun with our colours. Get to know them. In fact, I dare say your a colour whore Karin" Rose laughed at her comparison of the Ruthgarian Courtesan comapred to the imposing figure of Karin Whitewater.

It was quite amazing Karin Whitewater was a member of the elite Blackguards at all, much less their commander.  
Yet, here she was. Polychromes were the rarest form of drafters after the Prism themselves, able to draft three colours. Karin even beat those odds, being the oddest Discontiguous Polychrome in all the Chromeria history, as well as the only to ever serve on the Blackguards. Karin could draft Superviolet, making her slightly cold at times, but a master of spywork and targeting her luxin. She could also draft yellow, making her balanced in all her endevaours,  
as well as creating flashbombs to announce her presence to her fellow Blackguards. Finally, Karin could draft Sub-Red,  
seeing the heat in her surroundings, and drafting that into fire. Seeing inivisible Superviolet was rare enough, seeing heat even more, and yet Karin could do both.

"You know, I still marvel at you Karin. You can draft both ends of the spectrum, and the middle of it. Heck,  
your even a superchromat to boot." Rose climbed the last of the stares and set off in the direction of the Chamber.

"Hey! Your a superchromat too Rose." Karin looked forward, noticing the two Blackguards on Prism Duty standing outside the door to the Chamber. "Even more than that, you're the only drafter currently on the Jaspers that's more reowned than me."

The two Blackguards swiftly came to a stern military stand as the two drafters stopped in front of the doors.

"Commander Whitewater, the Lord Prism requries you as well for today's meeting of the Spectrum." Royce the Blackguard responed, the orange and green luxin in her eyes cretaing a warm welcome for the commander.

"On that note, we are to wait out here for you as well Rose Danavis, the White and the Prism have personal orders for the two of you afetrwards." Alexandra the Blackguard responded, ever matching green and orange eyes sparkling at the newcomers. Royce and Alexandra were two of the best matched Bichromes on the Blackguard, even nicknamed the Orange-Green Guardians.

"Very well, I believe your still the better drafter Karin" Rose quickly said, noticing lack of anyone in the halls, meaning her appointed time of arrival was but seconds away.

"Even if I am Rose, your the second fastest drafter in the world. Anyways, after you." Karin gave a slight bow as Royce and Alexandra opened the doors, then both walked into the Spectrum's Chamber.

Chapter 2 : A Ruthgarian Noble

It is uncommon for nobility to be drafters, much less one from Ruthgar. Ruthgar, being the richest Satraph in the Chromeria rule, as well as the most "civilized" could afford to have personal armies of drafters for each noble from the Satraph to the lowly Lairds. Yet Calina Dinuten was a drafter herself, as well as a noble with lands bordering those of Paria. Usually nobles who were drafters rated blue, for their love of hierachy and their high postions in it was always a base. Calina defied expectations again, she was a red drafter, though not a superchromat like half of all females were.

"This port is far below mine on the Narrows, don't you agree Toya?" Calina walked fullstride as her personal guard Toya follow.

"Orholam no, far less architecture. Security is rather lax, even more so for the Jasper Islands. I expect their "royal" apartments here barely rate for one with stature like myself" Toya kept pace, walking just a pace behind his master.

Toya was easily the most noticeable person at the harbour. Standing six and a half feet tall, clad in bright blue armour that shimmered as only Blue Luxin does, and muscles that could crush a man's ehad between themselves, it was not very hard to notice him. Long chocolate brown hair flowed from his head behind him as he walked. Of course, as Toya was a bodyguard, he was rated for weapons. In accordance with this rating, a long broadsword was slung across his back, and a flintlock musket parallel to the sword. He wore no cape as most ceremonial guards do, but did wear a belt pack that held musket shot and powder for fifty shots. A small army could not overtake him. He was the third generation guard the Dinuten family, and he did not intend to fail.

Calina on the other hand was as peaceful looking as someone could be. hazel brown hair was tied in a ponytail behind her, red streaks throughout giving a sharper look to her. Her dress matched her hair, a regal red with brown-gold trim. Her birthplace os Nosatol was a port city on The Narrows, of which her family had ruled for centuries.  
The city was the home to modern Architecture, having such famous oddities as the Shimmering wall, and the Castle of Evergold.

"Was it necessary to come in person to the "Great" Chromeria Ma'am?" Toya asked, noting any possible threats as they walked out of the harbour and onto the streets toward the Royal Ruthgarian Apartments. "Imean, could you not of sent a messenger and have them deal with our "Great" Lord Prism Guile?"

Calina stopped, and turned to stare at Toya as if he were mad in the head. She held the stare a second longer, then continued to stride towards the apartments.

"You saw that crazy preacher, was almost a giist. Even worse than being a giist in MY city, he dared to speak revolution against the Chromeria to restore the old gods."

"Of course m'lady, but wouldn't a messenger still be more convient?"

"BY ORHOLAM"S GREAT ASS NO. It takes the Spectrum and the other Satraphs too long to act as it is. Terrence Guile does not help any with his personal crusade against poverty. Don't you rememberwhat happened the last time it took too long to act?' Calina strood into the entrance hall to the Ruthgarian Apartments, noting the flags erected on wall for each noble family of her Satraph. 'We had the Luxin war, between Gavin Guile and Lord Omnichrome. We had the world nearly upturned against us."

"I see your point m'lady. Still, you think the Chromeria would be more accomadting - "

"I don't expect them to be. It's the chromeria." Red luxin filled her eyes as she prepared to draft, but she though better of it and released it. "They only care for me as a monochrome red drafter, nothing more."

"At least you can draft. I have to rely on more practical skills, like-"

Toya pivoted up and drew his sword just as the windows shattered in the entarcne hall, a deep red ball flying at them.

"DOWN!" Toya tackled Calina away as the sub-red luxin burst into flames and incinterated the Cragos Family Flag. Toya scuffled to retrieve his fallen sword as a man in a blood red claok jumped through the broken window.

"Death to the Dinuten Scum! Death to the Chromeria Slaves! Long live the Colour Lord!" The man had no halo, but instead the entirety of the whites of his eyes were filled with a deep red, with a deeper red forming the iris. It marked him as a Sub-red Colour Giist.

"I don't think he's too bright. Any sane man would know you hate the Chromeria." Toya swiftly moved to the left trying to flank his opponent as the giist drew more sub-red luxin.

"Let me handle it Toya." Calina quickly threw off her torn dress to reveal brown leather armour with red runes inscribed on the the shoulders as she drafted red through her hazel eyes. It came far more slowly than her opponent's sub-red luxin as he threw another one at her.

A flash occured as red luxin met the sub-red, creating an explosion that rocked the building and sent the staff scurrying out of the hall. The smoke quickly cleared to reveal a red luxin wall infront of where Calina stood.

"Your foolish Dinuten whore. A red wall will only blow up and kill you" The Giist quickly sent a fireball towards Toya, who had to roll to the side, earning the giist many seconds. The giist started to shake as he drew sub-red luxin all over his body and channeling it into a dragon's head. A moment later he let loose his draconic luxin which flew towards the red wall. It hit, forming an explosion that sent the roof of the entrance hall flying, and heavily damaging the floors above. "See, you can not -"

The giist stopped mid sentence as he saw no charred corpse of Calina Dinuten before him, but nothing at all. He was astounded; nobody had survived his draconic luxin attack. Ever.

A red cocoon quickly enveloped the giist, trapping him a sticky red binding.

"Draft, let's see you survive." Calina had quickly used the red as propellant to have her fly to the left of her prepared wall when the first explosion hit, using the second to get in close. "As a matter of fact, let me help you." With that Calina quickly drafted red lens and scrubbed them with charcoal on her hand to make the lens black. This done, she forced them upon the giist's head, blocking his vision and therefore stopping any further drafting. She drafted a small amount of red luxin to cover the giist except for his mouth and nose, and then pushed him over, watching him squirm in the stickiness of the red luxin.

"You could of been quicker you know Toya, I might of actually died." Calina laughed as her bodyguard stood up, knocked back by the explosion onto his bottom. The look on his face was well worth the joke considering she might of actually died form that explosion regardless of her tricks.

"If I didn't catch the odd red ball flying towards us, we might of died regardless." Toya grew a smirk as he saw his master's smile wiped clean off her face. "Your lucky your not a regualr drafter, or that might of filled the halo to dangerous levels." As one would guess, due to Calina being a noble,she didn't have the oppurtunity to draft often. Well most drafters hated this, she relished her expanded lifespan. As a result of her rare drafting moments, her eyes had only a thin circle of red luxin.

They both smiled at each other looking at their blackened clothes. The smiles disappeared as a troop of White coloured clad soldiers ran towards them. The Chromeria soldiers wore white uniforms to represent their neutrality in the Spectrum's Luxin affairs. The white was only worn on the Jaspers, as they would be too easily dirtied elsewhere.  
A white soldier with 2 gold bars on his sleeves ran up towards Calina, the bars denoting his rank as Lieutenant. His whtie cap with the badge of a red flame desginated him as the Flamiers Regiment.

"Miss Dinuten, are you ok?" The lieutenant asked. Other soldiers squickly dispersed to check the debris for anything improtant. Others began to move the rubble. A pair of the whtie clad soldiers donned dull iron armour and carried the giist to a windowless cart.

"Of course I am. What's your name Lieutenant?" Calina asked, completely forgetting the dress and the formality the soldier did not apply to her. She was more rattled due the fact that a colour giist just attempted to assassinate her.

"Lieutenant Swiftleg Ma'am." The Lieutenant spoke no more words, noticing the Ruthgarian noble about to speak once again. One did not interupt a red drafter who also happened to be a noble who also happened to be Ruthgarian.

"He mentioned something about a Colour Lord. My business here strongly points towards a preacher I exiled from Nosatol. Get me an audience with the Prism and the White as soon as you can." Calina gave the order with the red gleaming in her eyes. Of course, these days the White was equal in power with the Prism so one always asked to talk to both. Well, in her case ordered.

"Of course Ma'am, shall I escort you to the Prism's Tower as soon as reinforcements arrive?" The Lieutenant asked, noticing the dirt that could only be a company of soldiers in full battle regalia a block away.

"of course Lieutenant." 


End file.
